Raheem Sterling
Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a Jamaican born English footballer currently playing as a winger for Liverpool. Liverpool career Raheem Sterling, a product of the Queens Park Rangers academy, was brought to Liverpool in February 2010 for an initial fee of £600,000 (potentially rising to £5,000,000). The youngster gained attention when he scored five goals in a 9-0 win over Southend in the FA Youth Cup on 14 February 2011. He received his first call up to the senior team for the away-leg of the Europa League match against Sparta Prague on 24 February 2011- aged just 16 years and 79 days, however he failed to make the matchday squad. Still a schoolboy, he was only able to make the journey because of a half-term school holiday. After spending most of the 2011-12 season starring for the Reserves, Sterling was given his debut for the first team on 24 March 2012 in a home League game against Wigan. He had been drafted into the matchday squad due to a spate of injuries to the likes of Craig Bellamy and Charlie Adam. He was brought on for Dirk Kuyt with just under 10 minutes remaining whilst Liverpool were disappointingly trailing 2-1. Whilst Sterling failed to help Liverpool rescue the game, he did put in a very encouraging performance, displaying both his pace and dribbling skills. Sterling became the second youngest debutant in Liverpool's history, behind Jack Robinson, at 17 years 107 days. Sterling was kept with the first team squad for much of the latter stages of the season, and made his second appearance on 1 May 2012 under similar circumstances to his first. He was brought on with just over 10 minutes remaining in a home League game against Fulham with Liverpool trailing 1-0. Again the 17 year old looked lively but could not help prevent the defeat. The youngster spoke of his hopes to feature more regularly for the senior side in the 2012-13 season under new manager Brendan Rodgers. On 5 July 2012, he was one of only a small batch of players to take part in the first training session at Melwood since the end of the 2011-12 season - this also being manager Brendan Rodgers' first training session as Liverpool manager. Sterling appeared frequently in Liverpool's pre season games in the summer of 2012, and netted his first senior strike in his first home start for the club on 12 August 2012 in the friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. In just the third minute of the match, Sterling skipped past two Leverkusen defenders on the left wing and fired a curled shot into the right hand side of the net. Sterling made his first competitive start for Liverpool on 23 August 2012 away to Hearts in the Europa League. Sterling produced a man-of-the-match performance as his side claimed a 1-0 win. He followed this up three days later with his first League start in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City at Anfield. After the match, Brendan Rodgers described his performance against the defending champions as "phenomenal." Sterling's impressive start to the season saw him voted second in the Standard Chartered Player of the Month award for August 2012 by the Liverpool fans, losing out on the award to Joe Allen. On 20 October 2012, Sterling scored his first competitive goal for Liverpool, netting the winner in a 1-0 victory over Reading. In the 29th minute of the match, Sterling was put through on goal by Luis Suarez and he cooly slotted past Reading 'keeper Alex McCarthy into the far corner of the net. The goal made Sterling Liverpool's second-youngest ever goalscorer, behind Michael Owen. After fully establishing himself as one of the Reds' key players in the 2012-13 season, speculation began to mount regarding Sterling's contract situation with the club. Due to expire in the summer of 2014, rumours circulated that Sterling was demanding a wage Liverpool were unwilling to match for a contract extension, and that clubs such as Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United were all monitoring the situation, prepared to come in with offers for the player if Sterling chose to reject the opportunity to extend his Anfield stay. Sterling himself and manager Brendan Rodgers rejected the rumours and maintained a contract would be signed once Sterling turned 18 on 8 December 2012- and hence became old enough to legally sign a long-term professional contract. On 21 December 2012, Liverpool finally confirmed Sterling had extended his contract, reportedly of five years worth an initial £30,000 per week with incremental increases as Sterling aged. Upon signing, Sterling expressed his delight, stating "It's every 18-year-old's dream. I'm just really grateful to be at such a big club like this." On 2 January 2013, Sterling netted Liverpool's first goal of the calendar year, opening the scoring in the 3-0 home win over Sunderland with a sublime chip over keeper Simon Mignolet. This was Sterlings second goal of the season. On 27 January 2013, Sterling played in Liverpool FA Cup 4th round tie away to League One side Oldham, becoming Liverpool's youngest ever FA Cup player- aged 18 years and 50 days. Unfortunately the occasion would not be one to remember for Sterling as the Reds suffered a shock 3-2 defeat. On 27 August 2013, Sterling scored his first goal of the 2013-14 season, dribbling past the defenders and unleashing a strike into the bottom right corner to open the scoring just 4 minutes into a 4-2 win over Notts County. After a series of substitute appearances, Sterling was reinstated to the starting line-up in December 2013 following an injury to Daniel Sturridge. On 4 December 2013, he netted his first League goal of the season, firing the fifth in Liverpool's 5-1 victory over Norwich. Honours *Liverpool F.C. Reserves Player of the Season: 2011-12 *Liverpool F.C. Reserves Goal of the Season: 2011-12 (vs. Arsenal) Stats Notes *Aged 16, Sterling appeared on the Liverpool F.C. official site in the June 2011 edition of an article series called "One to Watch," which outlined six very gifted young players from Liverpool's academy. External links * *Raheem Sterling's profile on liverpoolfc.com * Sterling Sterling